Al-Muwaffak
Encyclopedia
Abu Mansur Muvaffak Harawi was a 10th century Persian physician
.
He flourished in Herat
of Persia(Iran
), under the Samanid
prince Mansur I ibn Nuh, who ruled from 961 to 976.
He was apparently the first to think of compiling a treatise on materia medica in Persian; he travelled extensively in Persia and India
to obtain the necessary information.
He wrote, between 968 and 977, the Book of the Remedies (Kitab al-abnyia 'an Haqa'iq al-adwiya), which is the oldest prose work in modern Persian. It deals with 585 remedies (of which 466 are derived from plants, 75 from minerals, 44 from animals), classified into four groups according to their action.
Abu Mansur distinguished between sodium carbonate
and potassium carbonate
, and seems to have had some knowledge about arsenious oxide, cupric oxide, silicic acid
, and antimony
; he knew the toxilogical effects
of copper
and lead
compounds, the depilatory vertue of quicklime, the composition of plaster of Paris and its surgical use.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
.
He flourished in Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
of Persia(Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
), under the Samanid
Samanid
The Samani dynasty , also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids was a Persian state and empire in Central Asia and Greater Iran, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Sunni Islam despite being from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility...
prince Mansur I ibn Nuh, who ruled from 961 to 976.
He was apparently the first to think of compiling a treatise on materia medica in Persian; he travelled extensively in Persia and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to obtain the necessary information.
He wrote, between 968 and 977, the Book of the Remedies (Kitab al-abnyia 'an Haqa'iq al-adwiya), which is the oldest prose work in modern Persian. It deals with 585 remedies (of which 466 are derived from plants, 75 from minerals, 44 from animals), classified into four groups according to their action.
Abu Mansur distinguished between sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...
and potassium carbonate
Potassium carbonate
Potassium carbonate is a white salt, soluble in water , which forms a strongly alkaline solution. It can be made as the product of potassium hydroxide's absorbent reaction with carbon dioxide. It is deliquescent, often appearing a damp or wet solid...
, and seems to have had some knowledge about arsenious oxide, cupric oxide, silicic acid
Silicic acid
Silicic acid is a general name for a family of chemical compounds of the element silicon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with the general formula [SiOx4-2x]n...
, and antimony
Antimony
Antimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
; he knew the toxilogical effects
Toxicology
Toxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...
of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
compounds, the depilatory vertue of quicklime, the composition of plaster of Paris and its surgical use.
Sources
- Fonahn, A., Zuar Quellenkunde Persian medicine, Leipzig, 1910
- C. Elgood. In: A medical history of Persia from the earliest times to the year 1932 AD 1932, Cambridge University Press, London (1951), p. V.
- Muvaffak A, Gurhan I, Gunduz U, Hasirci N., J Drug Target. 2005 Apr;13(3):151-9.
- Muvaffak A, Hasirci N. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2003;534:309-25.
- Sarton,G.,Introduction to the History of Science,Baltimore,1927